The invention relates to a hardtop vehicle roof movable between a closed position and an open position. The roof includes a roof part which, in the closed position, forms an outer roof panel which is connected to the adjacent vehicle body part by a locking bolt.
DE 198 05 477 C1 discloses a vehicle roof which comprises a rigid rear and a rigid front roof section which, in their closed positions, are arranged closely adjacent each other so as to form a continuous outer vehicle roof skin. For moving the hardtop roof sections between the closed and the open or storage positions, a roof operating mechanism is provided which connects the rear roof part to the vehicle body and the front roof part to the rear roof part and which makes the transfer movement of the roof parts possible.
Generally, it is a problem for convertible vehicles that, at high vehicle speeds with the roof closed, there occurs a vacuum at the outer skin of the roof parts, which tends to raise the roof parts whereby the water- and air-tightness of the roof is detrimentally affected and, over an extended period, the roof may suffer damages.
FR-A 2 791 007 discloses a two-part vehicle roof including two roof sections which, in the closed position, are disposed closely adjacent one behind the other and which include side sections in which locking rods are movably supported. At the front end of one of the locking rods, there is a receiver structure. At the adjacent vehicle roof structure, there is a locking bolt which, in locking position, engages the receiving structure. The locking bolts with receiving structure and locking bolt form a locking mechanism for locking the roof parts in the closed position.
It is however a disadvantage of this arrangement that, for the locking and unlocking procedure the whole locking rod to which the locking bolt is connected must be moved. For an accurate adjustment movement of the locking rod, guide means must be provided over the full length of the respective roof part by which the locking rod is guided. It is possible that, after extended use, the locking rod does not move precisely in the guide means so that either an increased play will occur whereby a safe engagement of the bolt in the bolt lock receiver is no longer ensured or the locking rod may be canted and adjustment movement of the rod becomes impossible.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a movable vehicle roof, which can be locked in its closed position safely and in a simple manner.
In a vehicle roof which is movable between a closed position, in which the roof covers an interior vehicle space, and an open position and wherein the roof part includes a locking bolt for engagement with an adjacent vehicle part when the roof is in a closed position, the roof part and the adjacent vehicle part each has a guide tube incorporated therein and the locking bolt is movably supported in one of the adjacent guide tubes and, upon closing of the vehicle roof, is insertable into the adjacent guide tube and lockable thereto so that the guide tubes and the locking bolt form a continuous tube structure with a common axis when the vehicle roof is in the closed position.
In the guide tubes, the locking bolt is supported so as to be movable between a locking position and a release position. In the locking position of the bolt, which corresponds to the closed position of the vehicle roof, the adjacent roof and, respectively, vehicle parts are firmly interlocked so that relative movement between these parts is prevented. Specifically, lifting of the roof part or parts at high vehicle speeds because of the low pressure generated thereby at the outer surface of the roof is safely prevented. As a result, the tightness, particularly the air and pressure tightness and the durability of the roof are substantially improved.
In addition, the guide tubes reinforce the roof parts and, respectively, the vehicle parts and increase the vehicle safety in case of a rollover accident.
The guide tubes are suitably arranged in both side areas of each roof part that is at the left and right sides of the longitudinal vehicle axis. Accordingly, at least two locking bolts are provided in the left and right roof areas, whereby a symmetrical interlocking of the adjacent roof parts and, respectively, a roof part and the adjoining vehicle body part can be realized. The guide tubes may extend within a bent-over fold of the roof sheet metal.
The vehicle roof is preferably a hardtop roof, wherein the roof parts are rigid. In a particularly advantageous embodiment, three rigid roof parts are provided which are interlocked by the guide tubes and the locking bolts that are movably supported in the guide tubes. The locking bolts are expediently supported in the intermediate roof part so that they can be inserted into the respective guide tubes of the front and rear roof parts for interlocking the roof parts. The locking mechanism including the operating unit for operating the locking bolts are the same in the front area of the intermediate roof part and in the rear area of the intermediate roof part. Preferably, a common operating mechanism is provided for the operation of locking bolts arranged in an action line for interlocking the front and rear roof parts with the intermediate roof part. Expediently, the guide tube extends over the full length of the intermediate roof part and locking bolts are disposed at both ends of the guide tube.
The operating mechanism comprises in a first embodiment an actuator, which may be hydraulic or electric. With such an arrangement, no complicated coupling mechanism for the coupling of the movement of the locking bolt and the movement of the vehicle roof is required.
In another embodiment, the locking and release movement of the locking bolt is kinematically coupled with the movement of the roof, particularly by a connection with an operating mechanism between two adjacent roof parts. This embodiment has the advantage that no additional energy-consuming actuator is needed.
Preferably, the locking bolt has an engagement projection which, in the locking position, projects into a corresponding recess or cut-out in one of the guide tubes. For the transfer from the release position to the locking position or vice versa, the locking bolt is subjected to a mixed sliding and rotating movement of the locking bolt out of the guide tube into the guide tube of an adjacent roof part and a rotation into a locking position and the engagement of the locking projection in the respective recess or cutout. The interlocking of adjacent roof parts is consequently achieved in accordance with a bayonet-lock structure. But other locking arrangements with exclusively translatory or exclusively rotational movements of the locking bolt may also be used.
It is advantageous if, in the closed position of the roof, a movable roof part is locked with a vehicle body component, in that a guide tube in the roof part is aligned with a guide tube in the vehicle body part and a locking bolt is moved into a position in which the two guide tubes are interconnected thereby. In the vehicle body part, this is especially on A column of the vehicle, that is a column which extends upwardly from the horizontal bodyline in a vertical plane extending parallel to the longitudinal vehicle axis and which is part of the windshield frame. The locking and release movement of the locking bolt is expediently controlled as a forced kinematic movement depending on the movement of the roof. But the locking bolts can also be operated independently of the roof by independent actuators.
The invention will become more readily apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof on the basis of the accompanying drawings.